Uman

Tomb of Nachman of Breslov

Every Rosh Hashana, there is a major pilgrimage by tens of thousands of Hasidim and others from around the world to the burial site of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, located on the former site of the Jewish cemetery in a rebuilt synagogue.[9] Rebbe Nachman Me'Uman spent the last five months of his life in Uman,[10] and specifically requested to be buried there. As believed by the Breslov Hassidim, before his death he solemnly promised to intercede on behalf of anyone who would come to pray on his grave on Rosh Hashana, "be he the worst of sinners"; thus, a pilgrimage to this grave provides the best chance of getting unscathed through the stern judgement which, according to Jewish faith, Hashem passes on everybody on Yom Kippur.[11]

The Rosh Hashana pilgrimage dates back to 1811, when the Rebbe's foremost disciple, Nathan of Breslov, organized the first such pilgrimage on the Rosh Hashana after the Rebbe's death. The annual pilgrimage attracted hundreds of Hasidim from Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Poland throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, until the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 sealed the border between Russia and Poland. A handful of Soviet Hasidim continued to make the pilgrimage clandestinely; some were discovered by the KGB and exiled to Siberia, where they died. The pilgrimage ceased during World War II and resumed on a drastically smaller scale in 1948. From the 1960s until the fall of Communism in 1989, several hundred American and Israeli Hasidim made their way to Uman, both legally and illegally, to pray at the grave of Rebbe Nachman. In 1988, the Soviets allowed 250 men to visit the Rebbe's grave for Rosh Hashana; the following year, over 1,000 Hasidim gathered in Uman for Rosh Hashana 1989. In 1990, 2,000 Hasidim attended.[8][12] In 2008, attendance reached 25,000 men and boys.[13] In 2018, over 30,000 Jews made the Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Uman.[14]

Today Israeli Hassidim, from many sectors of Israel's Ultra-Orthodox community, including many Mizrahi Jewish rabbis, make the pilgrimage. The event brings together a wide variety of Orthodox society, from Yemenite yeshiva students, to former Israeli prison inmates, and American hippies.[15]

The annual pilgrimage is regarded as Uman's main economic industry.[16]

The pilgrimage has drawn protests from residents due to the large influx of visitors from Israel, and the consequent strain on security and utility.[17] Common complaints from residents relate to the loud noise, singing, rowdiness, widespread drinking, drug use and fighting the pilgrims cause.[18]

Problems have been reported on the flights with pilgrims smoking cannabis and chanting over the airport PA system. One Israeli tourist said of the flights: "All sorts of people fly to Uman... Some of them arrive drunk or on drugs, embarrassing the rest of us. The local (Uman) police doesn't interfere, because the believers who visit bring in a lot of money."[19] An El Al pilot described his flight to Ukraine: "The flight attendants also detected the smell of marijuana on board, together with a large number of passengers drank hard liquor out of personal bottles".[19]

On September 10, 2010, several cases of violence and riots broke out among Hasidic pilgrims after members of the Jewish Evangelical Church arrived from Odessa to preach their faith, leading to 10 Hasidic pilgrims being deported.[20]

Heavy alcoholic drinking and cannabis smoking is prevalent amongst the pilgrims, many of them young men, with some describing it as a party event.[21] Hippies have been seen taking LSD on the pilgrimage.[15] Dancing in the streets to trance music is common and the event has been likened to the burning man festival.[16]

In clashes with locals, cases of Hippies provoking riots occurred. In one instance, pilgrims staying in a residential tower began tossing rocks and bottles from above onto a car, and when at one point a local policeman's hat was knocked off, police with German Shepherds were called to scatter the crowd.[18] On September 13, 2010, ten Hasidic pilgrims were deported back to Israel and banned from Ukraine for five years for disrupting public order and causing bodily harm to citizens. Three more were also under investigation.[20] Later, on September 26, 2010, an Israeli Hasid was stabbed and killed in an altercation that broke out following the vandalism of a car owned by Jews. In pursuing the vandals, who allegedly were retaliating for the recent stabbing and wounding of a local Ukrainian by an Israeli, the man was stabbed and his brother injured.[22][23]

An Israeli police officer sent to the proceedings to monitor security commented, explaining that “people get drunk and act crazy in the streets, go out to pubs and hit on women and harass them. They do all types of things that they would never do in Israel, but they come out here and feel like they can do it.”[24]

On September 25, 2011, a protest rally of about 100 people was held by the nationalist All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda" to demand 'stricter legal and sanitary controls on pilgrims' and better regulation of Hasidim pilgrims in the interest of risks to local security and health.[25]

On September 8, 2013, three Israeli police officers were deported after getting involved in a bar brawl during the Rosh Hashanah gathering in Uman.[26] In September 2014, a statement issued by the association of Breslov rabbis called on women to cease visiting the gravesite because the presence of women could detract from the sacredness of prayers said by male worshippers. According to the statement the increasing presence of women has created a "huge spiritual interruption."[27] Others defend their position stating that the enormous volume of male worshippers would mitigate the possibility of proper separation of the genders. They say that this separation is necessary to stay focused on the sacred mission of the pilgrimage.

In the 2014 pilgrimage, organizers were fined $15,000 by the city of Uman for illegally operating a "tent city" to house 2,500 pilgrims.[28]

The controversy is the subject of the 2015 documentary film, The Dybbuk. A Tale of Wandering Souls.[29]